Twelve Iowa Republican state senators are trying to force a vote on a bill to restrict carbon capture pipelines and add protections for landowners facing the use of eminent domain by refusing to vote for bills funding state government.
This comes as the legislative session is going into overtime, mainly because House and Senate Republicans have not reached an agreement on the state budget.
Sen. Kevin Alons, R-Salix, was the first to publicly commit to not voting for the budget on Tuesday. The next day, 11 more senators joined him.
“This is important. It’s our number one priority,” Alons said Thursday. “And the budget is the must-do, and it’s what we’re going to use to get a vote on the topic of eminent domain.”
The 12 senators signed a statement that says the “threat of eminent domain has loomed” over landowners for more than three years.
“The people of South Dakota emphatically stated that eminent domain will never be granted for this pipeline to cross South Dakota, and it is past time for Iowa to do the same,” the statement reads.
They pledged to vote against any budget bills that come up until Republican leaders allow a vote in the Senate on a bill that was sent over from the House.
Senate Majority Leader Jack Whitver, R-Grimes, provided a written statement in response.
“A number of Republican senators are working on policy surrounding eminent domain and pipeline issues and I am optimistic we will find a legislative solution,” he said.
The following senators signed the pledge:
- Sen. Kevin Alons, R-Salix
- Sen. Doug Campbell, R-Mason City
- Sen. Rocky De Witt, R-Lawton
- Sen. Lynn Evans, R-Aurelia
- Sen. Dennis Guth, R-Klemm
- Sen. Mark Lofgren, R-Muscatine
- Sen. Mike Pike, R-Des Moines
- Sen. Dave Rowley, R-Spirit Lake
- Sen. Sandy Salmon, R-Janesville
- Sen. Dave Sires, R-Cedar Falls
- Sen. Jeff Taylor, R-Sioux Center
- Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa
Lawmakers insist on protecting property rights
The Iowa House of Representatives passed a bill known as HF 639 with an 85-10 vote in March that seeks to put limits on eminent domain use and add regulations for carbon pipeline companies. That chamber has been trying for years to change state law in response to Iowans’ concerns about the pipeline planned by Summit Carbon Solutions, but the Senate has never passed the House proposals.
This year, a Senate committee advanced HF 639, but it made changes that pipeline opponents say gutted the bill’s key protections for landowners.
At least eight Republican senators and two Democrats have given speeches on the Senate floor over the past two weeks, urging Republican leaders to bring that bill up for a vote without the amendment.
Sen. Tony Bisignano, D-Des Moines, said Tuesday that Republican pipeline opponents should stand up for the Iowans who have been coming to the Statehouse for years asking lawmakers to take action against the use of eminent domain.
“If you’re sincere about property rights, you would not cast one vote for a budget until you had that debate on this floor,” he said.
Sen. Cherielynn Westrich, R-Ottumwa, said the right to private property is a basic right.
“I would urge my colleagues and hope that we will take up the two bills that we have that have come over from the House,” she said. “I would like to see us run something on the floor that protects the private property rights, that honors and respects those folks who have shown up so many days here at the Capitol.”
Summit Carbon Solutions, which is trying to develop a multistate carbon capture pipeline, has opposed the House version of the bill.
“Summit Carbon Solutions has invested four years and nearly $175 million on voluntary agreements in Iowa, signing agreements with more than 1,300 landowners and securing 75% of the Phase One route,” said Sabrina Zenor, director of stakeholder engagement and corporate communications. “We are committed to building this project, committed to Iowa, and remain focused on working with legislators — including those with concerns.”
Asked about the 12 senators’ statement, House Speaker Pat Grassley, R-New Hartford, said Thursday he would not speak for anything going on in the Senate.
“My expectation would be that that issue of eminent domain and protecting private property rights probably is revisited again before we leave session,” he said.
It is not clear when the 2025 legislative session will end.
